Cyclingman1 wrote:Unfortunately, my uninterrupted progress on my rowing will be taking a hit due to my emphasis on cycling starting right about now. 132 miles this last week on my bike. But I will be rowing in my cycling gaps.
I'm interested to see how any older athlete improves. I would like to see specifics on training. I simply ask that it all be legit - accurate results, etc. Someone improving 20+ secs in a short amount of time will make my quest seem doable.
Have you read "Wolverine Plan Remarks by Mike Caviston - 13 Jul"? It seems to fit your question. Mike reflects on his own training to try to get to his best 2k erg time. His training is as much as 200,000 meters/week and 11 workouts. He hits on missed training costing him, also his progress.
Here's one link
http://www.eudemonia.co.uk/wp%20notes.pdf
Some excerpts from the section "Reflections On Training"
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The history of the Wolverine Plan dates back to about 1998, when I started to think I might like to see what kind of 2K erg score I could pull in competition if I prepared properly. I had been training on the erg and coaching crew for years, so I wasn't a novice and I was already in decent shape. My erg training had centered for years around the types of workouts described in the Wolverine Plan as Levels 1-3. But I was looking for even more structure and something new to supplement what I had been doing, to give me new focus and to allow me to quantify my progress as specifically as possible. Most of the training effect regarding 2K scores comes from shorter, high-intensity workouts (Level 1 & 2), but I was interested in further maximizing performance and keeping my weight low using increased volume. After tinkering around a bit I came up with the type of workouts I now refer to as Level 4. (I am not going to go into the theories behind Level 4 or the potential benefits at this time.) But the program has worked well for me. I managed to improve my 2K time from approx. 6:26 at the age of 36, to 6:24 at 37, 6:21 at 38, 6:20 at 39, and finally 6:18 at the ripe old age of 40. This year, at the age of 41, I hoped to shave even another second off my PR. It didn't happen (6:21 was this year's best time), and I'll share some observations and give my opinions regarding what was different last year vs. this.
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The more years I spend training myself and others, the more clearly I see that performance is directly linked to training in a straightforward input-output relationship. Good performances or bad performances don't "just happen". Simply stated, more training = better performance. People who perform poorly do so because they did not keep up with their training (for whatever reasons, legitimate or not). I don't want to get into a whole thing about overtraining or quality of training. I take it as self-evident that training should avoid meters-for-meters- sake (aka "junk meters" as someone has cleverly called them), and that at some point even the most elite or well- conditioned athlete will show performance decrements when training volume becomes too large. But any given athlete will show greater improvement training 6, 7, 8, or 9 times a week vs. 4 or 5. Of course the rate of improvement is not linear and each individual has to decide how much time they are able/willing to invest relative to their performance goals. (For example, I have settled on 11 workouts/week as being most practical for me.) I
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My period of Specific Preparation for CRASH-B lasts 26 weeks (began week of August 25 last summer). I haven't found it possible to begin serious training before that date because of my work schedule (a lot of manual labor working for my landlord to supplement my teaching/coaching income), less access to training facilities, and the hot/humid Michigan weather. So I try to accomplish as much as I can in 26 weeks. In a given week I attempt to perform 11 workouts and cover on average about 190K (I went over 200K a couple times but found it hard to get in that much volume consistently). But if anything prevents me from doing all 11 workouts or putting in my normal amount of meters, that cuts into my Potential Training and the 26 weeks can become whittled down bit by bit over the season.
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... there is much much more in this document.
